Culinary utensil.



W. E. MORRISON & F. F. MINNIGH.

CULINARY UTEHSIL. APPLICATION FILED 00119, 1908.

flak/0,5563: C. 73mm M A. M

UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE.

WILLIAM E. MORRISON AND FREDERICK r. IMINNICH, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CULINARY UTENSIL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 23, 1910.

Application filed October 19, 1908. Serial No. 458,427.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that we, WILLIAM E. Mon- RISON and FREDERICK F. MINNICH, citizens of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful 1mprovements in Culinary Utensils, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to domestic cooking vessels and refers particularly to pots and the covers therefor.

The chief objects of the v improvements forming the subject matter of this application are :-to' provide a pot and cover presenting mutually interlocking portions ada ted to form a tight joint therebetween; to urnish means for retaining the cover in its seat upon the pot, and to make provision for permitting the steam to escape through a Vent in the cover when the pressure reaches a predetermined degree.

.Further objects of this invention are to furnish a safety valve for the vent opening, and to provide an alarm for indicating the position of the safety valve, when the.

latter is elevated.

Weaccomplish the above and other minor results by means of the appliance illustrated in, the accompanyin drawing, forming a part of this application, the details of construction bein disclosed in a single view which is part y an elevation and partly a vertical section of a cooking vessel'with a cover applied thereto.

Referrin to the details of construction,

' the numera 1 indicates a ct or kettle, provided with a marginal 0 set 2, .forming an annular sho lder 3, which is inclined down wardly andoutwardly in the manner indicated inthe' drawing. The pot is supplied with a lid or cover 4 having its outer edge bent inward and then downward to form an inset 5, the extreme margin being then bent inward and slightly inclined upward to form an annular flange 6, which rests upon theshoulder 3 of the pot, to form a tight jointat 3. The center of the cover 4 is irnished with a comparatively large circular aperture 7, having 1ts mar ins bent abruptly downward, as indicate at 8, and then slightly curved inward to form a valve seat 9. Within this aperture and normally closing the same is a safety'valve constructed as follows:--A circular piece of sheet metal 10 of suitable age has its central portion depressed to orm a body 11., circular in outline, and adapted to fit snu ly in the opening of the valve seat 9, and orming a steam tight joint between the body and said seat. The margin 10* of the said plate is slightly curved to correspond with the'curvature of r the cover, and normally rests upon the outer surface of said cover. The depression in the plate is closed above by a thin metal disk 12 preferably having its margins turned. as shown at 13, an'dsecurely fixed in position by soldering, thus producing an air tight cavity 14 in the body ofthe valve.

Upon the upper surfac'efioif the disk 12, forming the upper portion .of the body of the safety valve is mounted a knob. 15, secured to the body by a screw bolt 16, furnished with a nut 17. The said bolt fits snugly in the knob 15 and in the apertures in the body of the valve. The lower end of the said bolt projects below the valve forming a valve stem and carries upon the exside u ermost, thusformin a cavit 21' between the two arts. The k has a central orifice 22 an the cover -=is. supplied with a similar hole 23 which registers with the orifice 21, the construction producing a well known form of whistle.

In order to secure the cover in place and exert pressure thereon to counteract the force of the confined steam, we provide a device in the form of. a bail 24, secured at each end to ears 25 in the usual manner.

This bail differs from the ordinar pot bail by having each side bent inwar ly at 26, opposite the junction of the cover and ot, and then given a curve approximating t at of the cover, after which it-is bent abruptly at 27 and continued upwardly, forming vertical parallel portions 28, which extend to a suitable distance above the cover, and are then joined by the middle horizontal portion 29 furnished with a handle 30. It will be readily seen that this bail may be arranged to exert considerable pressure upon the cover, particularly if made of compara tively heavy wire and'the said wire may be adjusted by ben ing so that thepressure "upon the cover at the 1 points 27 may be varied, this adj ustability being an important feature since the bail, being used to lift and carry the kettle and contents may in time lows :The materials to be cooked, together with the requisite quantity of water, having been placed in the pot and covered with the lid 4, thelatter is locked upon its seat by turning the bail to the position shown in the drawing. The valve, if accurately adjusted, will fall by its own Weight to the position shown, with its body 11 engaging the seat 9 and the margin 10 in apposition with the outer surface of the lid or cover 4, closing the orifice 23 of the whistle and preventing the escape of steam therethrough,

the whistle thus remaining inoperative so long" as the valve isseated. As the body of the valve is made of comparatively thin material and slightly taperlng where it comes in contact with the valve seat 9, the adjustment may be such that some force will be required to seat the valve and consequently a greater steam pressure will be required to raise it.- Heat having been a plied to the pot in the usual manner, no urther attention will be required until sufiicient steam has been generated to raise the valve from its seat. When the valve is thus unseated the disk 18 will close the orifice 7, and the only vent will be through the orifices 22, 23, and the steam' passing therethrough will sound the whistle, thus indicating to the attendant that the water has reached its maximum degreeof heat, and the gas, or other fuel supply, may be correspondingly lessened in the interest of economy. As soon as the escape of the steam and diminution of the heat applied to the pot has reduced the in-- terior pressure to a sufiicient degree, the valve will descend until reseated, and the flange 10 will cover the orifice" 23 thus sto ping the alarm, and no further appreciab e escape of steam will occur until the pressure is a ain raised. The knob 15 serves the usua purpose of a handle for the cover, and when the knob. is raised the disk ,18 acts incidentally as a protector for the fingers when grasping the knob, by preventing the es cape of hot steam through the aperture 7.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim, is i 1. A cooking utensil, including a cover 4 provided with a central aperture, a valve controlling said aperture, means for closing said aperture when the valve is raised, an audible steam operated signal, and means attached to said valve for rendering the said signal inoperative when the valve is seated.

2. In a cooking vessel, the combination with a pot, and a cover therefor provided .With a central aperture, of a valve controlling said aperture, an audible indicating device arranged on'the cover, and means on said valve for controlling the indicating device.

3. In a cooking utensil, the combination with a pot, and a cover therefor having a central opening, an orifice in the cover adjacent said opening, a. concavo-convex disk attached to the under side of the cover and having an aperture registering with the said orifice, a valve cont-rolling the central opening in the cover and having a flange extending laterally from said valve and adapted to engage the outer face of the cover, and to cover said orifice.

4. In a cooking utensil, the combination with a pot having an annularshoulder, of a cover provided with a central opening, an annular flange on the cover adapted to engage said shoulder, an audible indicating device attached to the cover and having an external aperture, a valve arranged in said central opening and having a flange adapted to control the said external aperture, and a bail attached to the pot andfadapted to frictionall y engage and lock said cover upon the pot.

5. In a cooking-utensil, the combination with a pot, having an annular marginal shoulder thereon, of a cover having a central opening and an annular flange adapted to engage said shoulder, a whistle comprising a concave disk attached to the under side of the cover and furnished with an aperture adapted to register with a similar orifice in the cover, a valve controlling the central opening of the cover and having a flange controlling the said orifice in the cover, and means on said valve for controlling the said central openin when the valve is raised, and a handle for the pot, said handle being also adapted to engage and lock the cover upon its seat.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM E. MORRISON. FREDERICK F. MINNICH. Witnesses:

FREDERICK BENJAMIN, H. De Los HIGMAN. 

